Saying Plenty
by Nev827
Summary: Immediately after Castle proposes, he and Beckett finally begin to work out their issues when what might be Beckett's last case with the NYPD takes a surprising twist. Post-"Watershed" story and my prediction for what will happen in the season 6 premiere.
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note:_**I know lots of people have very definite opinions on what happened in the season 5 finale and what will happen in the season 6 premiere. This is just my personal opinion. I appreciate constructive criticism and make it a point to respond to such comments, but I will ignore (and possibly delete) rude or disrespectful comments or comments that have little or nothing to do with the story. If you don't like how this story is setting up, then my advice is not to read subsequent chapters. If you do, and still feel the need to post negative comments, then it's on you. Lastly, this will be a multiple chapter story, so give it a chance.

* * *

"Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?"

The words rang in her ears and her brain seemed unable to process their meaning as a result of the shock and surprise. She had expected him to walk away, give her an easy exit, wish her well at her new job, promise to visit when he could…

The last thing she'd expected was a marriage proposal.

"Castle -"

Once her brain finally processed his question, her eyes focused on the ring he held in front of her. If she had been under oath, she'd have admitted to having fantasized about this moment with him dozens of times, but always written it off as just that – a fantasy.

And one that wasn't likely to come true any time in the near future. Is that why she'd kept the job interview from him, because deep down she didn't think – or want – them to work out? She'd once told him that she always kept her foot in the door when it came to relationships so she could get out quickly before her heart got broken, like when Sorenson left and her mom died. Does that mean her Dad was right? She was just interested in this job because it was a way out from a relationship she was scared might actually work?

"Kate?" His pleading question brought her back to the present and got all the thoughts tumbling through her mind to organize themselves.

"Are you serious?" The words fell out of her mouth before she could think to stop them.

"That's all you can say? I'm kneeling in front of you in a park holding up an engagement ring and all you can ask me is 'Are you serious?'"

"That's not how I meant it."

"It's a yes or no question, Kate. Though, given your immediate reaction, I have a feeling I know what the answer will be." His face and voice hardened and she thought she saw his eyes begin to swim.

"Just stop for a moment, Castle, and let me finish." His shoulders slumped and his face fell, but he nodded gently. "I'm not ready. _WE'RE_ not ready. One of the reasons I took that interview is because you gave me no indication as to where you wanted this relationship to go. I want to move forward Castle. Like you said, we both deserve more. And every time I tried to bring it up, you'd deflect the question just like you do when your past comes up. You said that I didn't let you in? Neither do you. You know everything there is to know about me, including all my deepest, darkest fears, my motivations, what makes me tick. I feel like in five years, I've barely scratched the surface with you. So when I ask you if you're serious, I need to know if you want me or if you just want me to stay."

Castle swallowed hard and fought back the overwhelming urge to rail at Kate then walk away. He'd made up his mind after talking to his mother that he was done holding himself back when it came to her. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him since Alexis and he knew that to keep her he had to do things differently, had to change directions before the current carried him away from her permanently. He would let her in and tell her everything she wanted to know, even if it took the rest of their lives. He just wanted that chance.

"I know I've held back with you. And I'm sorry. I'm not used to someone wanting to get to know me on that level. The last person outside my family who did was Kyra and we all know how that turned out. And with my history of appearing in the tabloids, I guess I always assumed that if I opened up to someone all my dirty laundry would appear on Page Six the next day. So we don't trust each other. And where there's no trust, there can be no relationship."

"Castle, please-"

"I'm not running, Kate. This is not me running. I want to fix this, fix myself, and fix us. If you stay, I promise to be better. But if you decide to go, I won't stand in your way. You deserve the best of everything and if you decide that everything doesn't include me, I'll respect that. But I'm all in. I just hope that you will be too."

"I got the job in DC, Castle. And I need to let them know by the end of the day tomorrow."

"What do you think you're gonna tell them?"

Beckett struggled for an answer. Fifteen minutes ago she'd have told him she planned to accept it. It would have broken her heart and his, but she'd have done it. It was an opportunity that she just couldn't pass up.

Until he'd given her another.

She searched his eyes, so clear and full of truth and strength, but the words wouldn't come. She didn't know the answer to give him.

Then her cell phone vibrated with a call. The precinct. Assuming it was Ryan or Esposito or Gates wanting to know what was going on with her, she answered, despite Castle's glare.

"Beckett. What?! Yeah, I'll be right there."

"What happened?" Castle asked. And there they were. Partners again. But for how much longer?

"My killer got in an accident on his way to Central Booking. He's dead."

* * *

Thanks so much for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Beckett pulled up to the intersection that was only a few blocks from the NYPD's main booking and holding facility and badged her way past the crime scene tape. Nostalgia washed over her momentarily as the fleeting thought that this was the last time she would repeat that act as an NYPD officer flashed through her mind. She also recalled the image of a dejected Castle loping sadly across the park in the opposite direction of her cruiser towards the subway which would take him home. Her heart swelled with longing as she envisioned him pouting at his desk, a tumbler of Scotch in his hand, wracked with heart break and loneliness that she longed to wipe away.

No. Don't go there. Get this case done and then work it out somehow. If there was anything left to work out.

She buried her anxieties when she saw Esposito amongst the hum and buzz of the crime scene looking a lot less than happy.

"Hey, Espo. What happened?"

"From what I've been able to gather from talking to witnesses and from the canvas, the van rounded the corner over there, a couple gun shots rang out, the driver lost control, ran the red light, and t-boned that Lexus. Driver there is fine since the van hit on the passenger side, but we sent him to the hospital just to be safe. Our fine-upstanding killer was found on the floor of the van with a bullet to the chest and head."

"So our guy is on his way to Central Booking and decides to make a grab for a uni's gun?"

"I know, right? Guess the drinking burned off a few hundred brain cells."

"What did the uniforms driving the van say?"

"That's where it gets weird. We can't find them."

"Does anyone know who they were?"

"Nope."

"Well, what are the names on the transfer?"

"They're bogus. I checked with Central Booking once I got here just to cover all our bases and they gave me the names of the officers they sent. They don't match the names on the paperwork."

Beckett's eyebrows arched halfway up her forehead. "Seriously?!"

"Seriously. Additionally, paramedics were on scene within five minutes and all they found was Captain Dipstick on the floor." The Hispanic veteran added.

"Something is seriously fishy here. This all makes no sense."

"A lot of that going around." Esposito's eyes met Beckett's with such a hard stare that she immediately knew his meaning. Fortunately for her, Ryan's approach proved to be her temporary salvation.

"Hey. You fill Beckett in?" He asked his partner.

"Yeah. And she agrees it's totally bizarre."

"Well, it just got bizarre-er," swallowing his grammatical faux-pas, the Irishman continued, "I talked to a food vendor who was working the opposite side of the street of there. He said once the van came to a stop after crashing into the Lexus, our two uniforms," he emphasized the word with air-quotes, "climbed calmly out of the front seat, hopped in a black four-door sedan and left."

"Did he get a look at the sedan's plate?"

"Oh yeah."

"What do you mean it's unregistered?" Captain Gates demanded.

"Exactly that. There's no record of that plate along with that same description of the sedan in the system."

"So our killer confesses to being responsible for multiple murders, then has a change of heart in the back of the transport van on his way downtown, tries to take over the vehicle, fails, and the two men responsible for transporting him disappear into the crowd? That's just-"

"Bizarre?" Esposito interrupted then sank a little lower in his chair under Gates' withering rebuke for his rudeness.

"Yes, it is. I'll lean on CSU to make sure that van is processed from top to bottom. The last thing we want is to have the press get wind of the reckless conduct of whoever those men were, and Detective Beckett, I'm sure the last thing you want is to have your last case end this way. Am I right?"

Beckett's insides clenched, but she had no choice other than to agree with her Captain. "Yes, Sir."

"Keep me informed if anything else comes up." The petite woman then hurried to her office, leaving Beckett alone to face her team.

"Last case?" Ryan piped up?

"Dammit, Beckett. We're your partners. We've had your back for years now, yours and Castle's. Now what the hell is going on?"

She told them about Agent Stack, the interview, and the job offer and watched as a flurry of emotions washed over each man's face.

"So are you gonna take it?" Esposito asked.

There it was. The question she still had no answer to. "I, I don't know guys. I know it's a great opportunity and all, but-

"It's Castle, right?" Ryan guessed. "That what your fight was about and why he hasn't been around?"

Beckett slowly nodded. "I didn't tell him about it. He found a boarding pass in my coat pocket and got pissed."

"Why didn't you tell him?" The married one amongst them asked. Since he received no response other than a heavy exhale, he pressed on. "You know, Beckett, I know it's hard, but if you two are gonna be together, you can't keep secrets from each other. That was one of the things that struck me about Jenny in the first place – she got me to open up and she didn't judge."

"I know, Kevin. It's just not-"

"Who you are. We know." Ryan finished and Esposito nodded in agreement.

"But it was just an interview. I had no idea I'd actually get the job. I just wanted to see what else was out there. What I might be missing-" It'd felt good to unburden herself of the responsibility of keeping the secret from her two closest colleagues that she had to catch herself before she gave out too much information, information that could be construed to apply to her personal life as well as her professional life. That was the problem with working with detectives – they read a double meaning into almost everything.

Once again, her cell phone buzzed at an opportune time. "Hey Lanie. Yeah, I'll be right there."

"We are not done talking about this," Esposito said then turned back to his desk as Beckett gathered her jacket to make the trip to the morgue.


	3. Chapter 3

Just as the diminutive medical examiner finished her Y-incision on her latest subject, Beckett popped through the morgue doors, looking like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. She finished texting Ryan and Esposito that they should meet her at her apartment that night so she could finally answer all their questions then tucked her phone away.

"Hey Lanie," Beckett offered cautiously, determined to keep Castle's proposal to herself – for now. Still, she somehow doubted she'd be successful. Lanie knew her too well.

"Hey. You alright? You look like how I feel when my mother says she's paying a visit. Did you not get the job in DC?"

Beckett sighed heavily in surrender. "No, I did."

"Congratulations." She smiled, but when her friend merely gave a tentative smirk in return, she grew concerned. "And judging by your lack of enthusiasm, I'm guessing Castle didn't take the news well?"

"Lanie can we get to our vic before we go there, please?"

"Alright. But don't think you're getting off that easily." Lanie crossed to the small desk in the autopsy room and picked up a clip board. "So our victim had a rather exciting last few minutes. Bullet wounds in his chest and head are the cause of death. He's also got some bruising on his temple, hip, and elbows that was likely sustained when he hit the floor after being shot."

"Did you find any evidence of a struggle or a fight on him? Any other scratches or bruises that might have resulted from a punch or a kick?"

"Sorry, honey. Are you thinking he started a fight by going after someone's gun?"

"Yeah. That's exactly it."

"I hate to burst your bubble, but that's not what I'm seeing. First, the severity of the post-mortem bruising indicates he fell from a sitting position rather than from a confrontational stance. Second, the bullet to the back of his head was fired at very close range, close enough to make me think it was done execution-style."

"That explains why the two men-formerly-known-as-uniforms disappeared into the crowd after the accident."

"Sounds like you got a hum-dinger of a problem on your hands." Lanie observed, trying to lighten the mood.

"You got that right." The detective began pacing slowly and pinched the bridge of her nose like she always did when a case left her completely dumfounded.

"Kate, what's going on?" Lanie said as Beckett sank onto the end of a nearby gurney and Lanie took the seat at the small table on which she had deposited the clip board.

"I don't know, Lanie. I just don't know anymore. Castle was so ticked at me when he found out about the interview. He said it's not just about me, but about us and that I didn't trust him enough to make him a part of my decision."

"And what do you think?"

"There was no guarantee I was gonna get the job. I didn't see the need to get him all worked up-"

"And yet he got worked up anyway. Why do you think that is?"

"Lanie, it's not about him. It's my decision, my future."

"True, but put yourself in his shoes. He's told you he loved you twice, he waited for you for a year or more and now you leave him out of a life-changing decision? How would you feel if he did the same to you? How did you feel when that brick of a guy, Sorenson, took that job out-of-state?"

"This is different."

"How?"

"I wasn't in love with Sorenson. I really thought Castle was it. We've had such a great time together, but I didn't know where we're going. He didn't seem interested in moving forward at all, so when this job came up, I thought here's my chance to do more, to be more. I met him in the park today to tell him. God Lanie, I thought he was gonna end it. He said he wanted more and that we both deserved more-"

"Wait, you thought he was gonna end it? What did he end up doing?"

Crap, Beckett thought. She had gone exactly where she didn't want to go. But there was no turning back now.

"He got down on one knee and proposed."

Lanie's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Come again?"

"He said, regardless of what I decide, that he wants me to marry him."

"Did he have a ring?" Lanie asked, barely able to contain herself.

"Yup. A pretty nice one too."

"And what did you say?"

"I told him we weren't ready and then I told him everything – that I don't know hardly anything about his past where he knows everything about mine, that we've obviously got issues we both need to work out, and that it seemed that he was asking because he just didn't want me to leave."

"Ouch, girl."

"It's the truth. And as if I needed any more surprises today, he apologized and said he wanted to work things out. He wants to be better for me if I stay, but that if I leave he won't stop me because it's what I want. He said he's 'all in' when it comes to us."

"And are you 'all in' as well?"

Beckett paused and thought for just a moment. Her rational brain told her not to be hasty and that totally committing herself to Castle was a big risk for which she needed to be sure she was ready.

But this was also Castle – who had risked his life for multiple times, had not hesitated to spend a chunk of his fortune to help her find her mother's killer, had taken her crusade on as his own then called her out when that crusade threatened to destroy her. Anyone else would have given up on her years ago, but he didn't.

So why should she give up on him now.

"Of course I am, Lanie. Being with him is all I've ever wanted since we basically solved my mom's murder. When he told me he was 'all in' this afternoon, I fell in love with him all over again. I knew I somehow couldn't leave him."

"So now you don't know what to do about the job."

"No. I like what I do at the precinct and the people there, even Captain Gates has grown on me. But this is a once-in-lifetime opportunity that may not come around again and it will give me the chance to keep closer tabs on Senator Bracken. Maybe even to build a better case against him. I have to give them my decision tomorrow and I don't know what to do."

"You know, you two have the most wretched timing on the face of the earth."

"Tell me about it."


	4. Chapter 4

Beckett was fortunate to snag a parking space two blocks from her apartment and reveled in the few minutes of fresh spring air and solitude she could enjoy before meeting Ryan and Esposito. It was 7:45p.m. and she had told them to meet her at 8, so she still had 15 minutes to change clothes and collect herself for what she suspected would be an emotional talk.

Night was falling and the citizens of New York were generally in one of three situations: hurrying home from work, rushing to keep early evening plans, or stuck in traffic. It had been a long time since she'd focused on herself as one among a few million residents crammed into the small land mass that new immigrants from Europe had bought from the Native Americans at a bargain-basement price. Though she felt the tug of a square of former swampland nestled between Maryland and Virginia, she realized she would miss the unique quality, noises, skyline, and people of New York.

A familiar figure approached her as she neared the front door of her building and awoke from her musings.

"Agent Stack," she greeted the tan-skinned man.

"Detective Beckett, we meet again. I hear you made quite an impression in your interview."

"So it seems," she answered, resisting the desire to ask him what he was doing waiting for her in front of her building.

"It also seems you're meddling again."

"Meddling? I'd hardly call investigating a murder meddling. In fact, I believe you once complimented me on my persistence for pursuing a case."

Agent Stack grinned knowingly, but remained silent. The words Beckett knew he wanted to say remained unspoken. "Detective Beckett, can we talk somewhere more private?"

"You're welcome to come up to my apartment."

"Actually, I had somewhere else in mind. Please," he gestured towards a dark-colored sedan parked at the curb. As she neared the front passenger-side door, she noticed the license plate matched that of the vehicle the food vendor identified as ferrying away the mysterious men who crashed the NYPD van, and likely killed her murderer.

"What's this about?" She said as Agent Stack settled into the driver's seat. She expected him to start the car and take her for a drive to a secluded park, dock, or alley where who-knows-what fate might await her. Just because the man had tipped her off to the job of a lifetime didn't mean she entirely trusted him.

"I need you to back off your current investigation." Stack said severely.

"What investigation do you mean?" Beckett countered pleasantly. If he wanted to play ball, she was going to make certain it was hard ball.

"That's how you want this to go, Detective?"

"Agent Stack, this is the second time in under a week that you've shown up unannounced and inserted yourself into my investigation and the last time, it was because of an attempt to hide the fact that the U.S. government had lost control of a top-secret multi-billion dollar unmanned military spy drone. What makes you think that I wouldn't assume that you're trying to hide something this time?"

Stack studied her, even more impressed by her seeing through his real intent, but personally impressed with her direct attitude. "You're no fool, Detective," he dodged. "You know fighting crime sometimes has a dark side and that things aren't always black and white as much as we'd like them to be. Things don't always fit neatly into a little box to be packed away in storage in the NYPD archives."

In her mind's eye, Beckett saw the file box containing a case file labeled with her mother's name in the network of the 12th precinct's underground storage rooms. She stopped herself quickly, recognizing that he was just trying to get her off balance by playing to her emotions.

"What exactly are you getting at?"

"Sometimes…unorthodox measures need to be taken to further greater interests." His words were measured and calculated and made Beckett's skin crawl. She suddenly saw the face of Senator Bracken sitting in the seat next to her and the resultant anger kicked adrenaline through her veins. A terrible thought hit her like a ton of bricks. Was this man really no different? Had she really been considering joining a group of people who ran roughshod over the law in order to protect the narrow interests of the wealthy and powerful who publicly claimed to uphold the very same law?

"It was you. You picked up those men who killed my suspect." Watching him intently, Beckett caught his tell, a slight twitch of his right eyebrow. She had her man. Almost. "Why, Agent Stack?"

"That's need-to-know information, Detective. And you don't need to know."

"You work for the Attorney General of the United States and you see nothing wrong with conspiring to commit murder?"

"Therein lies the problem, Detective."

Her mind raced and eventually arrived at the only plausible conclusion. "You were afraid he'd confess something else, weren't you? That he'd spill more secrets in jail that would do further damage to his up-and-coming politician brother. Or is it something more?"

Seeing Agent Stack focus his vision on some anonymous point down the street and his jaw clench, Beckett knew she'd hit another nerve.

"There's a connection between my victim's brother and the Attorney General isn't there?"

Agent Stack continued staring, stone-faced, into the gathering twilight.

"What's the connection, Agent Stack? You know I'm not going to let this go."

"And therein lies another problem, Detective. We're done here."

Beckett climbed out of the car, suddenly feeling the need for a shower, and not just to wash away the grime from a long day of work. But before she could walk away from Agent Stack's car, he spoke.

"One last thing, Detective. The first problem I mentioned had nothing to do with my employer, but rather with you. Good luck." He started the car and disappeared into traffic.

Beckett stood staring as the dark car disappeared down the street into traffic. While her feet seemed rooted to the concrete beneath her, she felt her entire life take another 180 degree turn and yet she felt no anxiety or fear.

"Beckett?" She turned slowly and found Ryan and Esposito standing at the foot of the short flight of stairs that led to the front door of her building.

"Who was that?" Ryan spoke again.

"Agent Stack," she answered simply.

"What did he have to say?" Esposito sneered, obviously feeling no love for the man who started his boss down the path to another job in another city.

"Plenty." Beckett said and ushered the men into her building.


	5. Chapter 5

He felt sick.

And not just because he had drowned his sorrows in Scotch the night before, but because he'd rather sit through a week's worth of meetings with his harpy ex-wife publisher than face what he was about to face. His irrational brain told him not to lose hope completely, but his rational brain told him he knew what was coming.

She had chosen work over love. She was leaving New York. The precinct. Him.

He knew it in the look on her face that appeared immediately after he held the ring up and uttered those four little words that under normal circumstances and with a normal couple would have been cause for celebration. But they weren't normal. They spent most of their time with dead bodies, analyzing financial records, or pouring over traffic camera footage. They didn't share, didn't talk, didn't let the other in until just before it was too late and desperation rather than honesty flowed like a current between them.

When he'd awakened this morning, the last thing he expected to find was a missed call and a text message, both from her. She wanted him to meet her at her apartment that evening. Probably needed help packing after her last day at the precinct, he'd sneered to himself. He'd wanted to refuse the invitation and even recommend a good moving company to help her, but that flicker of hope still danced in his heart. For all Beckett was, the good and the bad, he knew she wasn't a cruel person, wouldn't invite him over just to rub her departure in his face like so many of the passive-aggressive businessmen and women he'd come to know as a writer. And he had told her he wanted to be better for her, regardless of her decision. So he'd agreed to come over.

But now he wished he hadn't.

Foreboding washed over him as he slipped through her building's front door and nodded and smiled at the front desk guard. As he climbed the stairs to her floor, his extremities felt numb and his heart pounded in his chest. He wished it was in anticipation and not in fear.

He found her front door and knocked before he could talk himself out of it. He heard her feet padding towards him, the deadbolt slide away, and there she was. Even though he felt as if he was being led to the guillotine, she looked radiant and love quickly replaced all his foreboding. But he remembered why he was here and slammed that door shut.

"C'mon in, Castle." She invited and now he noticed her face was different. Her forehead right over the bridge of her nose wasn't knotted in worry or anxiety and her eyes danced with optimism. Could she really be that excited to leave him? Or that cruel after all?

Then he noticed she obviously hadn't been packing.

Nothing on her bookshelves had been moved. No piece of furniture had been wrapped in plastic or covered with sheets. No flattened perforated cardboard lay in a stack waiting to be constructed into the boxes that would hold everything important to her.

"What's going on?" He asked tentatively.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, where are all the boxes?"

"What boxes?"

"Don't tease me, Kate. Shouldn't you be packing? I mean, your closet alone could take a week or more to move."

"I'm not moving, Castle."

His eyebrows nearly jumped off his head to collide with her ceiling. "You're not?"

"No."

"What happened? You said this was a great opportunity, that it would let you do more."

"It was and I did, but then I realized that the grass isn't always greener in DC. It just looks that way."

"I knew it! The grass in front of the White House has been spray-painted, hasn't it?"

"Castle, no." She fought to suppress a laugh and the desire in her belly to wrap her arms around him. "Agent Stack showed up last night after we'd spent the day trying to figure out why our murderer was killed on his way to Central Booking."

"I thought he'd died in a car accident."

"He did die and there was an accident, but he was shot first by contract killers whom the AG's office had hired to keep him silent. We don't know exactly what's going on, but we did find that our up-and-coming Senator once interned for the Attorney General who also has been one of the biggest supporters of his campaign and one of the most secretive, funneling him thousands of dollars through multiple political action committees to get around campaign finance law."

"You think the U.S. Attorney General's office had this guy killed so he wouldn't be any more of an embarrassment?"

"Exactly. There's something else there, something deeper, but Stack's outfit is blocking us from finding it. So far everything the AG has done and that we can prove may be unethical, but not necessarily illegal."

"Beckett, you realize this is the same 'outfit' you're about to join?"

"Not anymore. I turned down the job. It was just as well because I have a feeling the offer was rescinded anyway."

"So you're not going?"

"No. I'm not."

Castle's shoulders slumped in relief and the knot in his stomach untied, but one point still needed clarifying. "If not for this twist in the case, would you have taken it?"

"Castle, there's no point in going there anymore."

"It's important for me to know. Would you have taken the job?" He said, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice.

"No." Castle immediately went from studying his shoes to watching Beckett for the punchline. When she met his piercing look with one of her own, his mouth slowly curved upward into the warm smile she'd missed since he discovered her boarding pass to DC. "That job's not who I am, Castle. And it's not who I want to be. I mean, just take away the possibility of becoming a powerful politician's assassin for a second. I'd be working all the time, flying from place to place wherever there's a case, operating under an assumed name, no time or incentive to make friends or keep up with family, operating in the shadows…that may be who I once was or what I once wanted, but it's not anymore. I still want to do more, but I want to do it right here…with you."

His eyes glistened with happiness and she could see the muscles of his upper body relax. His face calmed and he moved his hands into the pockets of his jeans like he did when he shot the breeze in the precinct break room or helped out behind the bar in The Old Haunt. He took a step closer to her, but kept his hands where they were.

"Does this change your mind about marrying me?"

"No. That doesn't mean I'm saying 'no' and it doesn't mean I'm saying 'yes'. It means that we've had a great year together. Let's build on it, work on our issues, and be better together." She closed the distance between them and ran her hands over his broad chest then met his deep blue eyes with her own. "Is that enough?"

He took her by the hips and kissed her, warm and deep. "It's plenty."


End file.
